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i am on vacation 45 minutes away from my home and i put an fish feeder on my tank, i couldnt close the lid on the tank so i put a piece of cardboard over, my mom had to go home one day and saw that the cardboard fell in, got all worrmy looking stuff on the bottom and the filter was clogged. My gourami died. Me and my dad cleaned out the whole tank, washed gravel. Was that the right thing to do? the water was clear but not as clear as usual and the filter was nasty. my fih seemed fine and i left back down to vacation, but put nothing over the tank. I dont think my pleco, angel, or cories will jump.

I don't think such drastic measures would have been the right thing to do. Such a major clean up and then leaving it unattended has its downsides. I don't think you need worry about them jumping.

Keep tabs on the ammonia and nitrites in the tank. A complete change like you suggested will destroy the bacterial colonies your fish tank houses. These bacterias filter your tank natrually, and process organic waste. Chances are you slaughtered a good part of them, so pick up a bacterial starter such as cycle, and dose it.